The Firm

Grisham is one of the greats, and The Firm might just be his best. Money laundering, finance, postal laws, and the quirky world of 1990s Memphis all come to life with this Grisham great.

While more of a legal thriller than a financial one, I found that as far as finance-related fiction goes, it’s tough to beat The Firm. Not only a look inside at off-shore banking and shady deals, Grisham offers here a compelling narrative that excites and captures the reader.

The Firm is the seminal legal thriller. It launched not only Grisham’s long line of bestsellers but also an avalanche of wannabe lawyer-writers. But its lawyer-protagonist, Mitch McDeere, could as easily be an accountant or any other office worker whose dream job turns into a nightmare. Mitch is recruited out of law school to work for a firm where the perks seem too good to be true. Alas, they are. Turns out the firm is a front for the mob. The FBI comes calling, and Mitch faces a Hobson’s choice; spy on the bad guys and risk deadly retribution; or… show more.

The Firm was published in 2010, but it’s still on my list of all-time favorites. The protagonist is an idealistic young law school graduate who gets dragged into shady dealings and money laundering on Grand Cayman when he accepts a lucrative job at a law firm. Almost immediately, he’s contacted by the FBI, who want to turn him into an undercover agent to help them get the goods on the firm. But the firm has made it plain that both Mitch and his young wife will die if there’s so much of a whiff of a double cross.

This novel… show more.